Chris Lehmann, Science Leadership Academy

Chris Lehmann is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia, Pa. The Science Leadership Academy is an inquiry-driven, project-based, 1:1 laptop school that is considered to be one of the pioneers of the School 2.0 movement nationally and internationally. The school was recognized by Ladies Home Journal as one of the Ten Most Amazing Schools in the U.S., has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School in 2009 and 2010, and has been written about in many publications including Edutopia Magazine, EdWeek, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Lehmann returned to his native Philadelphia after nine years as an English teacher, technology coordinator, girls basketball coach, and ultimate Frisbee coach at the Beacon School in New York City, one of the leading urban public schools for technology integration.

In June 2010, Lehmann was named as one of the “30 Most Influential People in EdTech” by Technology & Learning Magazine. In 2009, he was an honoree for the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development’s Outstanding Young Educator Award. He was named as one of “40 Under 40” by Philadelphia Business Journal in 2009. In 2006, the National School Board Association named Lehmann one of “20 to Watch” among American administrators. In 2001, he was honored by MOUSE as a Champion of Technology and Education for his work on building the portal at the Beacon School. He has written for such education publications as Principal Leadership Magazine, Learning and Leading with Technology Magazine, and the School Library Journal. Lehmann has spoken at conferences all over the world, including TEDxPhilly, TEDxNYED, the National Association of Secondary Schools Conference, the Building Learning Communities conference, the National Educational Computing Conference, the Philadelphia Area Educational Technology Conference, The Yahoo Cybercitizen Conference, the Innovative Learning Conference, The Council of Educational Facilities Planners Regional Conference, the K12-Online Conference, the International Conference on Technology and Education, and at LinuxWorld, and he has worked with many schools and districts in the United States and England as a consultant.

Lehmann received his B.A. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.A. in English education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He is co-editor of What School Leaders Need to Know about Digital Technologies and Social Media, the author of the education blog Practical Theory: http://www.practicaltheory.org.

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, grants # 0822241, 1449550, 1650648, 1743807, and 1813076. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.